Ireland’s harrowing 5-0 defeat at the hands of Olympic silver medallists the Netherlands in Rotterdam last night has left a daunting path ahead of them if they are to reach a first World Cup since 1990.
Over-run and out-gunned, they were a distant second best as a Dutch side – using a fair degree of experimentation – ran them ragged into the first half with the Irish blushes only spared by David Harte’s excellent performance between the posts.
Rogier Hofman’s pace and pullback drew an own goal from Stuart Loughrey before Constantijn Jonker rolled home a second off the back of Oliver Polkamp’s build-up play in the 27th minute.
Ireland improved slightly in the second half but Jeroen Hertzberger netted twice in the closing quarter, sandwiching a second effort from Hofman, to run up the five-goal result.
It leaves Ireland with just a solitary point from the group phase. All is not lost, though, as no one is eliminated yet with the group solely deciding quarter-final opposition.
But Ireland will now face a red-hot Belgium on Wednesday (11.30am Irish time), the most impressive side in the competition to date.
Win that and they will qualify for the World Cup; lose and they face a tough battle with either Spain or New Zealand – ranked eight and nine places above them in the world respectively – to keep an outside chance alive.
The worry, though, is the quality of the performances against the Dutch and New Zealand have been so sub-par that a return to form currently looks a long way off.
World League Round Three
Group A results: Spain 1 Belgium 1; Australia 7 France 1
Standings: 1. Belgium 7pts (+5) 2. Australia 6pts (+7) 3. Spain 4pts (-1) 4. France 0pts (-11)
Group B: Ireland 0 Netherlands 5 (R Hofman 2, J Hertzberger 2, C Jonker); India 3 New Zealand 3
Standings: 1. Netherlands 7pts (+7) 2. New Zealand 5pts (+2) 3. India 2pts (-2) 4. Ireland 1pt (-7)
Quarter-final fixtures (Wednesday, all Irish time): Belgium vs Ireland, 11.30am Australia vs India; Spain vs New Zealand; Netherlands vs France
Ireland improved slightly in the second half but Jeroen Hertzberger netted twice in the closing quarter, sandwiching a second effort from Hofman, to run up the five-goal result.
It leaves Ireland with just a solitary point from the group phase. All is not lost, though, as no one is eliminated yet with the group solely deciding quarter-final opposition.
But Ireland will now face a red-hot Belgium on Wednesday (11.30am Irish time), the most impressive side in the competition to date.
Win that and they will qualify for the World Cup; lose and they face a tough battle with either Spain or New Zealand – ranked eight and nine places above them in the world respectively – to keep an outside chance alive.
The worry, though, is the quality of the performances against the Dutch and New Zealand have been so sub-par that a return to form currently looks a long way off.
World League Round Three
Group A results: Spain 1 Belgium 1; Australia 7 France 1
Standings: 1. Belgium 7pts (+5) 2. Australia 6pts (+7) 3. Spain 4pts (-1) 4. France 0pts (-11)
Group B: Ireland 0 Netherlands 5 (R Hofman 2, J Hertzberger 2, C Jonker); India 3 New Zealand 3
Standings: 1. Netherlands 7pts (+7) 2. New Zealand 5pts (+2) 3. India 2pts (-2) 4. Ireland 1pt (-7)
Quarter-final fixtures (Wednesday, all Irish time): Belgium vs Ireland, 11.30am Australia vs India; Spain vs New Zealand; Netherlands vs France